Green and Blue Lights
by silver drip
Summary: Loki didn't really enjoy being an Avenger until he had a random conversation with Tony one night. Pre-Slash


Loki preferred the night, or more accurately he liked how at least half of the other Avengers were asleep at this hour. He knew that Thor, Steve, and Bruce were definitely asleep. Clint and Natasha were wildcards. The only one that was ever awake other than himself was Tony, but the engineer tended to confine himself to his laboratory for days on end, not disrupting Loki's peace.

The God of Mischief turned the page of the book he was reading, a small green orb of magic just above his head providing the perfect amount of light. When he first joined the team as part of his 'rehabilitation' he was surprised to find a library in the tower that they all resided in. It was a cornucopia of new stories and ideas for him to take in as he waited for either Odin to forgive him or for all the humans he had harmed to die off. Either one was fine by him.

A shuffling noise caught his attention and Loki glanced up from his book. He frowned, once more annoyed with the one short coming of the library. It was located on Tony's floor. Loki had no doubt that the only reason it was here was because Pepper had insisted on it when the two humans were still courting.

Loki's frown deepened as the door to the library swung open noisily. He dimmed his floating orb of magic, making it look like just another part of the skyline. His green eyes were predatory, a dagger automatically finding its way to his hand.

A figure stumbled into the large room and Loki immediately dissipated his dagger, feeling irritated for being interrupted by a drunkard. Tony had a half empty bottle of some alcohol or another in hand, along with a cell phone to his ear.

"No… I want two tons. Rhodey," the engineer dragged out the name. "You're my military connection. Hey, have you ever wondered why it's called the military? Why not the centitary or decitary? I feel like the military is always trying to be bigger than all the other militaries. It should be kilotary since a kilometer is bigger than a millimeter and the military kills." Tony stopped his rambling and began pouting. "Fine, then give me some military grade uranium. I bet I can make something super cool with that." Tony paused then let out a whining noise. "Fine platypus the sourpuss." Tony turned off the phone before carelessly tossing it onto the carpeted ground. It skidded in the direction of Loki, causing Tony to finally notice he wasn't the only one in the library. "Why, hello." Tony purred the words, no longer slurring. He stood a bit straighter and was no longer stumbling as he walked over to the god. Loki rolled his eyes, used to the engineer's flirting.

"I'm reading. Go away." Loki said without looking up from his book. Tony came closer and Loki regretted not having teleported away the second he heard someone else. Tony put his half empty bottle on one of the coffee tables before sitting next to Loki on the couch. The god held back a scowl.

"Boop." Tony said much to Loki's surprise as he touched the orb of green magic.

"Do you usually touch dangerous things?" Loki asked, eyeing the human.

"Only when they're pretty." Tony plucked the orb out of the air. "A solid that looks like a plasma. Very cool." Loki frowned, confusion dulling his annoyance. No one had looked at his magic with such amazement since he and Thor were young boys. "Room temperature- some sort of chemical reaction? Bioluminescence? I want to lick this. If I lick this will I die?" Loki snapped out of his stunned amazement and grabbed the orb from him.

"By all rights it should have shocked you." Loki said, cradling the ball of magic to his chest before letting it float up again, brightening slightly, illuminating the both of them.

"But it didn't and you didn't answer my question." Tony reached up for the orb and Loki made it move away from him, not wanting someone to carelessly touch his magic. Tony followed it, leaning over Loki slightly. The god tensed up and let Tony catch the orb so that he wouldn't be so close. Tony brought it close to his face and squinted as he looked at it. "So, can I lick it?"

"Why would you even want to?" Loki said, still a bit put off by the sudden intrusion of his personal space.

"Other than because it's pretty?" Tony mumbled, sniffing the orb. "I wanna see if I can taste any chemical components." Loki scoffed. Humans couldn't identify complex chemicals readily just from taste. "What? I've been putting dangerous things in my mouth since college." Tony winked at Loki and the god really didn't understand this strange mortal. "I think I'll just try for myself." Tony licked the orb, swirling his tongue on it twice before pulling it away. Loki shivered, feeling his magic interact with an outside power source. "Tastes like energy."

"Give me that." Loki swiped the orb from Tony's hands and the human let out a childish whimper of displeasure. Loki wiped off the orb with the sleeve of his shirt. For some reason Loki felt his face heat up with a blush.

"Come on, Lokes, sharing is caring." Tony reached for the orb.

"Well I don't care." Loki said scathingly while turning away from him slightly to guard the orb.

Tony let out another almost animalistic noise of sadness. Loki turned further away from him, hiding his blushing face. He was startled when Tony draped himself over Loki's back. The god sat completely frozen as their faces brushed against each others and Tony reached for the orb.

A strange energy on his upper back snapped Loki out of his state of shock just as Tony stole the orb back and retreated to a respectable distance.

"How did you make it brighter? Do you have to be in direct contact with it to change its luminosity?" Tony was rambling again, but unlike when he was on the phone he sounded almost gleeful, like a child.

"A trade." Loki stated simply while turning to face the human.

"Hmm?" Tony glanced away from the orb.

"I'll tell you about the orb if you tell me about this." Loki slowly placed his hand in the middle of Tony's chest, feeling a steady energy.

"All you had to do is ask if you wanted to know about the arc reactor." Tony tossed the orb to Loki who easily caught it. "You're part of the team now." Loki was beyond grateful that his stunned expression at Tony's simple statement was hidden as the human took off his shirt. Loki quickly schooled his features into his usual look of disinterest despite the glowing object in Tony's chest fascinating him grateful. "This lovely piece of science keeps me alive. I have half a dozen little shards of metal trying to pierce my heart. The reactor powers an electric magnet that won't let them do that."

Without thought Loki moved closer, putting himself at eyelevel with the device. His hand glowed green as he reached for the reactor. He was surprised when Tony didn't stop him. He touched the smooth surface and felt the energy output of the arc reactor change slightly, matching his own output, a perfect balance. He pulled back quickly.

No wonder his orb hadn't shocked Tony.

"Nifty, isn't it?" Tony asked, completely unperturbed by Loki's reaction.

"You made this?" Loki knew he was an inventor, but he didn't think the humans were capable of such things. Tony smiled happily and some part of Loki noticed that it was far different than the smiles he showed everyone else. Somehow it was more genuine.

"Yup, car batteries really aren't my style." Tony chuckled to himself and once again Loki felt his face heat with a blush. Thank the Norns that it was so dark even with the blue glow of Tony's arc reactor and the green light of Loki's magic. "Does this mean I can see more of your magic? I really liked that spell you used against-"

"Pardon the interruption, Sir." Jarvis' soft voice cut in, causing the god to flinch. "The code you wrote for my new program has finished compiling. I wish for you to look it over before I add it to my mainframe."

"Of course, J. Start a pot of coffee and I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Sir. I'll be sure to keep Dum-E away from the coffee maker." There was a hint of humor in Jarvis' voice, making Tony grin. The engineer looked back over at Loki.

"We should do this again some time." Tony said while standing, wobbling slightly as he leaned over to grab his shirt. Before Loki could properly form a response Tony was waving goodbye and was out the door.

Loki sat in complete silence for a good minute before grabbing the book that at some point had fallen to the ground. He flipped through the pages as he made himself comfortable on the couch again.

Despite his best efforts he was grinning.

Perhaps his time with the Avengers wouldn't be so bad.


End file.
